


Between the Lions

by kuill



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Lion (Voltron) - Freeform, Blue Lion (Voltron) - Freeform, Gen, Green Lion (Voltron) - Freeform, Red Lion (Voltron) - Freeform, Yellow Lion (Voltron) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 13:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7510535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuill/pseuds/kuill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They watched the rise and fall of great civilisations, the birth and demise of hope and fear, the bloom and collapse of stars and galaxies where not even a single living creature had breathed. </p><p>They were the Five, they had existed long before a <i>before</i> willed itself into being, and now they are on the search for their Paladins.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p>A fic written from the Lions' perspectives, a companion to the VLD canon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between the Lions

**Author's Note:**

> [not-so-shameless plug for all #sheith writers and artists! If you're up for taking part in a Sheith zine, check out [@sheithzine on twitter](https://twitter.com/sheithzine) and volunteer your excellent services! c:]
> 
> OH god I just realised how long it'll take to write a chapter for EVERY episode haha but we shALL SEE HOW IT GOES!!! But this fic is kinda planned around fleshing out the (POSSIBLE!!) personalities of the Lions, giving them some random backstory etc. Very gratuitous fanfic. After all the Lions aren't given much personality so IT'S TIME TO GET STARTED!!! (arm-emoji.png)

They watched the rise and fall of great civilisations, the birth and demise of hope and fear, the bloom and collapse of stars and galaxies where not even a single living creature had breathed.

They were the Five, and they had existed long before a _before_ willed itself into being.

There had been no need for names, for bite-sized mottos or catchphrases. All matter knew them by purpose: the vanquishers of evil, the defenders of the universe.

And nothing stood in their way.

It took uncountable cycles of solar deaths before the Five came to realise that while they excelled in strength and power, they severely lacked what their subjects owned in spades. Between them none had heart to care, to feel instead of count up a risk, to run on instinct, or to live as a team, as a continent, a planet, a system. They were mighty forces who instilled fear and loyalty; but only from a distance, as mythical beasts or gods who had no right to walk amidst the meek.

The Five were torn, and became fragmented. What use was power if it could not inspire bigger ideals of trust and faith, mercy and justice? Yet the only solution, so preposterous that none of the Five even dared to speak it out loud, was to relinquish all this unimaginable strength to others beyond the Five — who could possibly be worthy? Who could possibly own the wisdom, the patience, and the calm that living for galactic millenia could bestow?

In the midst of this frailty, disaster struck. The Five were summoned before an enemy unlike none they had ever faced before: a creation of amassed energy, driven by the same heart and emotions they sought to understand. Under its mighty blows, the Five were overcome and forced to retreat to a distant planet yet to be tainted by the all-encompassing evil.

It was a small, meek planet. Marbled by forgiving waters, forests that promised concealment, and a rich atmosphere speckled with dustless clouds. It was caressed by a quiet young star, its tides swayed by a single blemished moon. The Five were surprised such a planet still remained undetected. Such havens were treasures amongst other races.

And they were right. The race that inhabited this planet were warm blooded, who did not use the spires on their foreheads or the runes upon their scaleless hides. They were a peaceful planet, who guarded their home fiercely, and threatened to take vengeance on the wounded Five should they pose any harm to their beloved planet.

Surely, said One of the Five, this is the heart we covet.

With great trepidation of giving up the past, coupled with great exhilaration for a new future, the Five lowered their guard. And before the Five, another five approached to speak. The Five looked into their hearts and truly _learned_ the symbols and shapes of dreams and magic that could or couldn’t be. Without discussion the Five tilted their heads and took a more familiar form: a four legged beast, tipped with ripping claws but eyes that could shed light in darkness. And all around the Five, all around the five, their subjects cheered and cheered.

Accompanied by their new counterparts, the Five took to the depths of space once more. They found out that rather than halving their power, the strength between them had multiplied severalfold; so strong were their riders’ hearts that the Five were spurred beyond all limits they had ever known. Armed with the new five, they were more.

They were courage, with heart to care, to feel instead of count up a risk, to run on instinct, and to live as a team, as a continent, a planet, a system.

No longer Five and five, they became Ten.

It was a hard-fought battle, but the Ten reigned triumphant. They knew now that true power came not only from the collective knowledge of all in the known universe, but something more unassuming: from the heart, where the vastest dreams slumbered and the most terrifying fears lurked.

The original Five learned humility to relearn their place: no longer undefeatable overlords, they were the weapons that the weak used to seize another chance at tomorrow. The Five bared their fangs for those who had none, wielded swords and shields for those who were crippled, and sparked revolution for those who were too beaten down to try.

They were _defenders_ , and truly they learned what it meant to defend.

But before even a single galactic year had come to a close, the Five were presented with a new dilemma. So heady was this strength and authority that their companions had become drunk on it. They chased the mirages that visualized in their dizzying haze of power: fantasies and delusions of kingship and empire, of servitude and slavery. In what felt like a mere tick the Five no longer recognised their most beloved comrades. It both sickened and dismayed them to realise how great hearts could also be massive downfalls; and above all it frightened them that there was no clear solution this time.

The Five, betrayed and bitter, left their companions on that beautiful marbled planet and sought refuge on another. There, they watched stars grow, then die; galaxies twirl, then wilt. The thought of yet another failure terrified them, so that not One stood to change their fate.

In the painstaking slowness and sureness that only space understood, One of them, the largest and stockiest of them all, finally got to its feet. It shook millennia of dust off its pitch black body, stirring the other Four from their repose.

The black One looked at each of them in turn, pledging to continue using whatever shattered ‘heart’ that remained to keep peace and justice in the universe. Out there, said the black One, there must certainly be countless few who have heard the tales and waited for us to free them from oppression; yet here we are, languishing away, and is that not what the evil ones wish of us in the first place?

We are the Five, and we must do what we must.

Looking at the black One, the remaining Four were snared a volt of an ancient memory they had almost forgotten. Although it was not clear which One stepped forward first, it was most important that they all did in the end. Their tails thrashed, their claws kneaded their planet’s dusty surface, and their souls beat as one.

From these times on, they would embrace the mistakes as well as the victories.

So began their cycles of trust. In the shadow of a new, obliterating threat, the Five, in greater heart than they ever knew they possessed, chose another five from yet another race, such that no one race could hold their power for too long and corrupt it. They would watch the new race for centuries, studying and waiting until finally the time was right for five more to join their ranks and fight against impending doom. And once the deed was done, when the universe regained its balance once again, they would dissolve back into wisps of legend, only surfacing when they were needed most.

And that is where legend meets reality: time and time again, the tales have been told of a Voltron, of the Five who choose another five to make a legendary Ten. Perhaps the name of Voltron has been one mangled by translation, only made understandable by time and language intertwined. Perhaps Voltron is the universe’s greatest hope. Perhaps it is its downfall.

Whatever the legends say, this time the Five have come full circle, such that their hearts point to that graceful planet on the edge of the universe.

With the Galra creeping towards the heart of existence itself, the Five are searching to make Ten.

It is time for Voltron to rise.

**Author's Note:**

> HI HI thank you for reading all of it!! And I sincerely hope you enjoy! 
> 
> If you want to watch me descend I also have a a twitter account @k_uillwhere I yell about robot space cats.


End file.
